Please Bring Rodrigo Home

I came across a wonderful story about a bright and well liked fourth grader who along with his family was recently deported.  What is wonderful about this story is that the student’s classmates have taken action to bring him back.  This is the story of Rodrigo.

Rodrigo was a student at Jefferson Elementary in Berkeley, California.  Before the start of his fourth grade school year, the family was deported due to his parents expired tourist visa.  Rodrigo had been enrolled at Jefferson Elementary since kindergarten and has been with the same group of classmates with each grade promotion.  Rodrigo was well liked by his classmates and he reads above his grade level.  When the fourth grade teacher broke the news to Rodrigo’s classmates that Rodrigo and his family had been deported, his classmates decided this was not fair and they began to campaign to bring “ bring Rodrigo home[i].”

The idea to bring Rodrigo home was conceived by two of his classmates.  The twin brothers and the rest of the class took their case to the Berkeley City Council, started a grassroots campaign and they wrote a letter to President Obama.  This summer, several of the fourth graders hope to travel to DC to lobby for bringing Rodrigo home[ii].

This wonderful story demonstrates that no matter what age you are, it is never too early or too late to get involved with helping your neighbor.  These young children have taken the purest form of protest by fighting for what they feel is right.  These young children have not been tainted by racial bias or unfounded fear of what will happen if “too many of those people” come here to experience the American Dream.  These young children do not care about political affiliations and power brokers who seek to influence their beliefs, these young children care about a friend who was taken from them. A friend who they believe:

“shouldn’t have to wait five years…because that’s

 a long time to be away from your friends[iii].”

Sadly, this story did not garner national attention.  The lessons these young children are teaching everyone about friendship and inclusiveness is something to be admired.  I hope the voices of these young children will invigorate the stale dialogue that surrounds the debate on immigration by reminding us there are innocent children whose only memory of a home has been in the US are paying the cost for the fear and hatred of adults. 

Please Bring Rodrigo Home

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[i] http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57588412/fourth-graders-rally-to-bring-deported-classmate-home/

[ii] ibid

[iii] ibid